Smells Like Heaven
by TigerQueen
Summary: AU sad one-shot with a hopefully uplifting ending. Rated for dark theme.


**Smells Like Heaven**

There's nothing quite like waking up to her scent.

I guess that's why I love this room so much.  Keh, I _know_ that's why I love it.  Her smell is _everywhere._

Stupid humans can't understand it.  What really ticks me off is the fact that they _think_ that they understand it.  They do have noses, after all, and they think they get how scent triggers memories, blah, blah, blah.  Such idiots.  It's so much more than they can imagine.  I can smell _her_.

For example, her desk tells me more than I want to know about her "school."  Her books smell like so many different people, I'm tempted to throw them out the window.  Especially that one bastard, damn him to Hell.  What was his name?  Doesn't matter.  Ahh, what I'd love to do to him – such a weakling, thinking he could look after her, always giving her junk from his world...But enough of that.  I can't let myself get angry – it would cover up her scent.  At least I can concentrate on her chair.  It smells faintly of anxiety, but only on the surface.  It seems she only became worried about schoolwork after coming home – or to the Warring States Period, as she would say.  Keh.  _That_ is her true home, not here.  Still, this is the only place that smells so much like her, and this is where I will stay.  Here, where even the chair's legs smell like her skin and that scented oil called "lotion."

My favorite part of her room has to be her bed.  I sleep next to it every night, just as I did on a few occasions during our quest.  Alone, I dare to smell every square inch of the sheets, always careful to keep my own skin from rubbing away any traces she has left.  Her pillow is tainted with the smell of her hair soap, but even this is a part of her.  Kikyo smelled a lot like her, but didn't use this stuff.  For a human thing from this world, it's a pretty natural smell.  Some kind of western flower, I think.  I kind of like it, though I'd never stoop to telling her that.  Stupid girl, always covering up her own scent.  Completely unnecessary.  The center of her bed smells like her – her alone – and it's the best part.  Here I smell the traces of so many dreams – fear, content, and a hint of that _other smell._

Unlike the corrupt monk, I have always been in control of my reactions.  Well...not in the beginning.  I still blush when I remember how I acted when I first stopped calling myself a pup.  I smelled something wonderful, enticing...and it pulled me as easily as fresh meat.  I barely even saw the girl before I pounced on her.  To this day, I don't remember what her face was like – all I remember is that incredible scent, then the incredible pain as my brother immediately knocked me off of her.

_Who would expect better from a mongrel?  I'd leave you to your own shame, but this disgusting behavior is a disgrace to my father's blood – rutting like a common mutt._

He nearly killed me that day, but he taught me something.  I'm a hanyou, not an animal.  I learned to control myself to the point where I could even watch her bathe that first week.  Of course, it was a lot easier when she was just an idiot who happened to look like Kikyo.  The longer I knew her, the harder it was for me to keep my eyes trained on her own, but I never failed.  I never shamed her as Miroku did.  Yet here I am with my face practically buried in her bed.  Keh.

They're yelling again.  Damn them.  Will they never leave me alone?  They're always banging on the door, begging to be allowed in.  I'll _never let them dilute her scent with their own, even if they are members of her family.  Bastards, every one of them.  Even her mother has joined in, telling me I have to come out, trying to bribe me with food and tears.  Why won't they just __shut up?  Their stupid food will overcome her smell!  They've even tried to poison me – I once took a sip of the water they offered, and it immediately turned my stomach.  Who would have thought her family could be so vicious?  The worst part is the way they act like they're doing it all for me, like they're actually _worried_ about me.  It's understandable, though.  They probably consider this their territory.  I won't – can't – give it up, though, no matter who they are.  This is my new home._

She's here.

She's sitting on her bed, apparently not noticing my shock.  How the Hell does she sneak in here without my hearing her?

"Inuyasha, it's about dinner time.  You should eat something."

"Keh.  Not hungry."

She smiles sadly – why is she always so sad now? – but doesn't let it slide.  She's almost as bad as her family.  I blot out the lecture that starts pouring from her mouth, concentrating instead on the sound of her voice.  This is _her voice.  She even slips up with one "sit!" forgetting that the rosary doesn't work anymore.  Silly girl._

What remains of her smile melts away as I crouch beside her bed, leaning my head against her knees in a moment of intimacy I would have avoided...before.  She sighs painfully as she runs her fingers through my knarled hair.

"Inuyasha?  You have to let go.  I'm supposed to tell you that if you don't soon, you'll..."

"Idiot.  I'm strong, remember?  Stop worrying about me."

"But you have to eat!  At least drink something!  Even if you're stronger than a human, it's still been over two weeks since I..."

I cling reflexively to her legs as she finishes the sentence with that word.  That _word_.  That stupid piece of shit of a word.  I won't think about it.  I won't acknowledge it.  Filthy word.  Bad word.

"Don't ignore me, Inuyasha.  We have to talk about this.  You _always do this.  You cut me off before I'm finished, avoiding everything rather than deciding what you're going to do."_

She stops, surprised that I actually _did_ let her finish a sentence.  Before she can start speaking again, I tell her.

"I've already made my decision."

OK, now _this is surprise.  If I could only smell her, the image would be perfect._

"I'm staying with you, Kagome."

Why does she look like she's going to cry?  Shouldn't she be happy?  Really, she _is stupid._

"But...what about..."

"Kikyo can't sense me on this side of the well.  She thinks I died in the explosion, so she's happy.  The Shikon no Tama is gone, so I'll never be a real youkai.  What's the point?"

"You'll...come with me?"

"Stupid girl, don't you _want_ me to?"

"Well...but..."

"So shut up already!"

She chews her lip in silence for a while, trying to come to terms with what I've told her.  Finally, she shrugs her shoulders in defeat.

"I guess it's all for the best.  After all, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo miss you.  We've had our hands full, actually.  It seems the Shikon no Tama followed me, and it actually even has powers in the afterlife.  I guess it has to do with its being powered by souls – it isn't restricted to the physical plane."

"Idiot!  Why didn't you tell me sooner?  I should have come long ago!"

_Finally.  A real smile.  I was starting to think she'd forgotten how to grin.  It's a pity my voice is so weak.  I'd really love to scream at her now.  Oh well...I suppose I can wait a little while longer._

"Remind me to 'sit' you when I can, ok?"

That'll start working again?  Shit.  I could have done without that.

Keh.  Doesn't matter.  Nothing matters now.  I let myself smirk as I close my eyes.  While everything else fades, I can hear her heartbeat, and I can smell _her_.  Not just what she's left on her sheets and in her room, but what rolls off of her warm body.

Huh.  So this is what heaven smells like.

~Fin~

~End Notes~

OK, in case you didn't understand...Kagome's dead.  That's the word that Inuyasha blocks out – "...Even if you're stronger than a human, it's still been over two weeks since I _died_."  An explosion triggered during the final battle with Naraku killed Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo.  The Shikon no Tama was also destroyed during the explosion.  Inuyasha, being made of sterner stuff, survived (but with a broken heart).  To make a long story short, he killed Naraku and returned to Kagome's world to bring what remained of her body to her family.  Instead of going home, however, he locked himself in Kagome's room.  For over two weeks he neither ate nor drank.  This story shows his train of thought in his last few hours of life as he dies of dehydration and starvation.  The "Kagome" he's talking to is sort of a combination of a hallucination and a vision – I don't think Inuyasha's making up the bit about continuing on some sort of quest even in death.  At the same time, she's not really there; that's why he can't smell her.  I hate to be so blunt about it, but I've suddenly realized that a lot of people won't pick up on that major plot bit.  If you didn't figure it out before, please reread it (it's a short story).  Hopefully, it'll make more sense the second time around.  If not, please tell me in a review or write me an email or something, ok?  Ja.


End file.
